860C.01/11–3044: Telegram
The Ambassador in the United Kingdom (Winant) to the Secretary of State 16
[Received November 30—10:06 p.m.]
10603. Diplomatic correspondents of the London papers this morning report the formation of a new Polish Cabinet by Mr. Arciszewski, the Polish Vice-President. The Daily Telegraph correspondent writes:
“I understand that the new government includes no members of the Peasant Party or the Christian Labor Party, both of which refused to collaborate with M. Kwapinski, the Socialist Deputy Prime Minister, when he tried to form a government after M. Mikolajczyk resigned. It does include several members of the Polish Underground Movement who have arrived in London during recent months. Their presence will be adduced as proof that the new government represents patriotic Polish opinion.”
The Times correspondent writes concerning Mr. Arciszewski:
“He left Poland last July after gallantly continuing under the German terror the resistance work which, before the last war, he had organized when Poland was under the Russian Tsar.17 On his way to this country he chanced to meet M. Mikolajczyk, who was traveling to Moscow for the first of the conferences with Soviet leaders; and he afterwards described his surprise at learning how far M. Mikolajczyk was ready to go in reaching an agreement with Moscow.”
He reports the opinion of “some Poles in London” that the new government will be an interim arrangement and that Mikolajczyk will return sooner or later. He continues:
“Among some Polish groups several reasons are given for delaying acceptance of the proposals which M. Mikolajczyk brought back from Moscow. Both they and M. Mikolajczyk recognize that the Lublin Committee is facing many material and political difficulties and they reject its claim to be the true voice of Poland. But from that point their policies diverge. M. Mikolajczyk and those around him see that agreement will become even harder to reach as the Lublin Committee takes over the administration of more territory in Poland. Others argue that acquiring new territory will land the Committee into difficulties so crippling that its lack of popular support will be apparent to all and a fresh attempt at wider agreement will be made. Such arguments, and others heard on similar lines, seem to disregard many real factors in the situation, and are hardly likely to miiuence any responsible Cabinet.”
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